


Shipwreck Islands

by AlexMcpherson79



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 18:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12138243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexMcpherson79/pseuds/AlexMcpherson79
Summary: When the Queen's Gambit was sunk, there were several survivors, but most did not survive the water. One was murdered. And another killed himself.Of the survivors, only a handful survived a week after that.Oliver Queen was swept ashore on Lian Yu.Sara Lance was picked up by a passing pirate ship.After almost a year, the pair reunited on Lian Yu. Not long after, they were parted and Sara ended up with the League in Nanda Parbat, and Oliver headed to Russia. Sara spent the next three years travelling the world working for the League, while Oliver lived in Russia for a time, then in Hong Kong, before being returned to Lian Yu.Then the day came: Oliver returned home to Starling City, expecting to find only his mother, relieved that he was alive yet to grieve once more from his confirmation at the others loss.He didn't expect to find his sister... because she had been aboard the Gambit with him.-Bunny.Note: Thea doesn't stand in place of anyone. She's additional.





	Shipwreck Islands

**Author's Note:**

> This is merely a bunny.
> 
> Thea does not stand in place of anyone. So Sara was still on the boat. (which is what ive seen in other fics: either it was thea, or tommy, or laurel instead of sara... I've not seen ollie and sara AND SOME ONE ELSE..)

**Queen Mansion, Starling City, Present**

Oliver Queen stared up the stairs. He couldn't believe it, this was... well, not impossible - he survived - but...

"Oliver."

"Thea."

A Beat of silence passed, where he was sure his heart stopped, but then she just  _dove_ for him, and he caught her and, they were just caught up in their emotions, both saying the same thing, "You're alive!"

A minute later, he stopped and looked at his mother. "Wait, that's why you didn't react when I told you Thea died!"

She smirked a little, and nodded.

-

He hadn't said much about what happened, partly because it was difficult, and partly because he didn't know what Thea had already said... and he was dreading that part with Laurel and Detective Lance.

It was only when it was getting late that he found it easy to take to her in private, although that was because she was getting ready to go to bed. The lack of reaction from what used to be an invasion of privacy moment meant she was either okay with him seeing her in nothing but her underwear, or she just didn't mind it, like it had been before.

"How long have you been back?"

She shifted a little. "About... two months."

He blinked. Her tone said that it was a lie. "Thea..."

"I... took a while to work up the courage to come back..." She looked at the closed door, "Well, to make it known I was back, anyway. I was hoping that you or Sara had..." trailing off, she looked at him with, hope? He shook his head. "What happened to you? After we blew up the Amazo, I mean."

"I was found unconscious, and practically in a coma by Anatoli on the beach. When I woke up, he'd taken me to his home in Russia and it had been about two months. He'd sent some people to look for you and Sara, in case either of you washed ashore like I had, but nothing. You?"

"Rescue out of the water take two." She smiled a little. "Explorer ship, not pirates this time. Nice people. Well, most of them. They were searching the East China Sea for a mystery island, some archeology expedition. They'd tried to get word out that they'd picked me up, but the storms notorious in the area was either blocking the signal, no one was in range, or their transmitter was bust. Probably all three, with our luck. The Amazo was three and a half years ago, Ollie. Why didn't you go home when you woke up?"

"A hundred reasons. Top of the list? Dad was dead. I thought you were dead. for all we know, Sara's dead too. Shado died because of me, and I killed the one friend I had on the island. Many other reasons... I couldn't go back, not the way I was. Same question."

She smiled a little at his attempt at levity, since they'd made the unspoken deal to take turns. "Shipwreck Take Two... which is how the crew and I found what they'd been looking for. How long did you stay with Anatoli... and don't tell me you joined the Bratva." Her tone told him that she knew something, although he wasn't sure if that meant she knew he _is_ part of the group. At his surprised look, "We talked on the Amazo, and after. You think he was  _my_ best friend because of his sense of humor? I mean, aside from his sense of humor?"

He chuckled, though glad, kind of, that she hadn't confirmed any current knowledge.

They both knew that Anatoli's position in the Bratva, namely, as its head, had nothing to do with the friendship. Anatoli had told him about their time on the Amazo prior to Oliver showing up, which explained why Sara thought she was dead, yet not  _that_ surprised finding her aboard. The Russian had done his best to protect her, while Sara had been 'protected' by Ivo. Ivo had tried with Thea, only to find that she was  _not_ going to fall for his 'I'm trying to save humanity' line, and made sure that the two girls had been isolated from each other.

That protectiveness, yet a strange playfulness that, thankfully, had no romantic or sexual overtones whatsoever, had been apparent in that short time between the rescue and blowing up the Amazo.

"A year and Half... and, well, I didn't want to feel useless, and needed stuff to do... so..." He shrugged, not sure if he should have said that he hadn't... but well, he wasn't going to let her find out from elsewhere. He'd have enough lies to maintain, he didn't want one more with Thea... or any, now that he thought about it. "I did. He, he knew there were certain things I wouldn't do. Couldn't do... which he didn't want of the Bratva. He... well, that's the role I took, I guess. You know his rules?" She nodded, though they both knew it was rhetorical and therefore not part of their trading of questions. "No Kids, No Innocents, that kind of thing. Well, not everyone adhered to it, and when he got back and found that his second in command had in fact gotten rid of those rules... enough time had passed that it got deep-seated. I... found it easier, a lot easier to... uh..."

"Kill." She whispered, and he nodded.

"Or just hurt, when I knew their 'crimes'."

She smiled. "So you were basically brought in to what, enforce his rules."

"And investigate too. How long where you... wherever you were?"

"An Island called Yamatai. Mythical place. It... is hard to describe. You told me about those mercenaries. About a hundred people? There were a thousand people like them on Yamatai, and although they were all shipwreck survivors, they were  _worse_. Like..." She sighed. "Lian Yu started to wear off your sense of morals... or.. well, the influence and control they have on you... now imagine that, over  _decades_ , and add in that those who take you in force it deeper... To survive, I had to avoid them like the plague.

"Thank god for Lara. I was almost dead from starvation after a few weeks on my own, when Lara found me. She'd been captured by those guys day one when she'd washed up, but broke out, and was waging a one-woman war on them for weeks when she came across me. Most of the crew had gotten there too, but, well, we were scattered, and getting picked off one by one. She... She helped me learn how to shoot. Gave me her shotgun for close range, but... well, she was hopeless with a bow, despite picking one up and trying to hunt deer. Needed me to show her the ropes."

Oliver could believe it. She'd won awards doing archery when she was younger, then turned it to combat for the assault on the Amazo, the two of them working to rescue Sara, she went after Sara while he went after Slade. The two of them had, up to that point, made quite the team.

"We were there for about two years, until we'd... well. Only the two of us made it off. I have no idea how long it was between the Amazo and being picked up, especially as I was, well, coma, too. about a week while I was aboard. and it could have been days or weeks adrift before I washed on the shores of Yamatai., and both of us had a lot of sleep on the way. She, uh... She'd needed time, and I didn't want to leave her so, I went to her home. Like the role reversed with you and Anatoli, I guess. Should have come home though."  She smiled a bit, "She wasn't so far gone not to send me to school."

That got him going, and they were both still laughing uncontrollably when their mom peeked her head in.

"Oliver, Thea, it's late..." She tried not to show it, but when they finally calmed and looked, both could tell that Moira was  _not_ happy at Thea's state of dress (or lack thereof).

"Soon." Thea spoke, as she got up and put a shirt on to appease Moira.

Moira nodded, and left.

Oliver listened carefully, and once he was sure Moira had gone, he spoke up. "Spent three months in Hong Kong, with... well, two days back here around that time. Held hostage, pretty much, but a group called A.R.G.U.S." Thea's eyes darkened. "I see you've heard of them." She nodded, but didn't speak, so he continued, "They, uh, Waller, their head honcho, was behind a plan to destabilise China's economy by blowing up planes, although that plan was doubled with a plan to kill a member of the Chinese Triad, Chein N-"

"Na Wei,..." Thea smiled a little, and nodded. "I've heard of her. Conti-, wait, that was the mercs you dealt with? Cool. Saved innocent people, but because that meant you saved a woman like her, and also stopped said market crash, Mandy was pissy?"

"Yeah. You...?"

"One run in, and she had no idea who I was... Namely, I'm not blonde and don't really look like mom, like you do. And," Thea paused, and with a cough, started to talk with a pretty good posh english accent, "Apparently I have quite the impeccable british cadence, when I'm not trying to be sarcastic with it. The wonders that are living with Lady Croft."

Oliver blinked. "Lady Croft... as in? Wait, that Lara? Lara Croft?"

 

Thea nodded. "Just over a year with Lara, and then I came back, though it took me a while to say hello..."

He nodded. "Ended up on Lian Yu for ARGUS, for about two months then back to around the world until about six months ago. Uh... Publically, I never left. They really don't want me to tell the truth on that score... which brings me to..."

She sighed. "I told mom a little, but not much. That... that I was picked up by two boats, two different times. The first wasn't 'all that nice' to me and Sara, and ended up crossing paths with you... then that boat 'sank' and ended up picked up by Lara and told her I thought you and Sara died, and after you told me dad was dead, she figured out that whole 'stayed away on purpose' bit. I didn't have the heart to tell her how long I really was back in the city for, nor my two years on Yamatai... and nothing about Lian Yu."

He'd frozen when she'd mentioned Sara, ans slowly released. "Did, did you say anything to the Lances?"

She nodded, "Same to both, but I went into a little detail, though vague, about what Sara went through on the Amazo... And I told them both that, if she's alive and able, then she's staying away for the same sort of reason I did - shame, survivors guilt and grief. And that I almost didn't come back, for lesser reasons than Sara has, so basically 'If you find out she's alive and living a new life, dont be surprised that she didn't come back' kind of thing... Also, 'don't ask' if she does come back."

Oliver unfocused, as he parsed through those statements.

He'd had a hellish five years.

Thea, it sounded, had a hellish three, near four, years, with a year at least to 'recuperate'.

They sat in silence, and only when Thea spoke up again, did he realise they'd both at some point migrated to sat on her bed, backs up on pillows to the head board.

"Lara said she'd visit soon. I, uh... She knows about, The Amazo, the Island... what you told me anyway. So, if you want me to ask her to play ignorant on any bits... make a list and I'll call her in the morning."

He nodded, and gave her a one-armed sideways hug, then he asked, "What was that Run in with Argus?"

"After Yamatai, and two years of fighting... We both found it difficult to... relax, get out of 'survivor mode'... Sit still, you know, like I think you will be like, basically." She smiled at him to let him know she understood, and was teasing only lightly. He squeezed her shoulder a little. "She wanted an outlet for it, and, though she absolutely  _hates tombs_ , well.... so anyway, I wasn't going to leave her alone, nor she me, and it didn't take her long, only a month, to decide to commit to the whole tomb-raiding archeologist thing, what with how much we'd learned on Yamatai... often because our only escape, or only shelter, was through those tombs. So there we were, Lady Lara Croft, Archeologist and Bad ass, and Thea Queen, Student and bad ass... travelling around the world to learn about ancient history, going to the places so remote normal archeologists wouldn't dare. And we come across some military outfit spying on a group in Tibet. Or... no, not Tibet. Close. Somewhere in the himalayas. This was... last year... I don't know. And I'm thinking, 'Damn bozos are going to destroy these ancient monk temples if they carry on bringing in huge helicopters', when we come under attack. Due to the cold, we were both pretty well wrapped up, and apparently, that meant we were part of the group they were there to spy on, because  _who in their right mind would want to learn about history_ ? Almost got hit by one of their guys... weird thing, he was an Archer. Really good too, but thankfully, I live up to my nickname, caught the arrow... I'm so bad-ass." Thea grinned at him.

Oliver paled. "That was you and La... Oh... For..."

"Wh.... That was you?"

He started to chuckle, but not in amusement. "So who was it that rescued you two? And rescue, it was, because Waller had a whole team on the way."

Thea grinned to herself. "Did you see those two girls in the masks? The brunette is called Nyssa, and her partner, in the blonde wig and a domino mask...? This is why I told the Lances not to be surprised if they did find out Sara was alive and living a new life. That was Sara. Wait. Sorry. Ta-er Al Sahfer, or The Canary, the name she took when she became a full member of the League of Shadows. Or is it Assassins? like they both."

He almost passed out, and when he recovered, he sighed. "I better get some sleep before you drop any more bombs on me."

"Like how Mom got married again? To Walter Steele?" His eyes bugged out again. "Go to bed, Ollie. We'll take in the morning... If you've recovered enough."

-

It took him a week, before he realised he hadn't told Thea the plans he had.

When he and Tommy had been jumped in the Glades, she hadn't seemed to react out of the norm when he gave the story about 'a guy in a hood with a bow and arrow saved me', and figured she was just that good of an actress now, but then after taking down Adam Hunt, and the police raiding his welcome back bash - which took place across the street from Hunt's offices - she'd waited just long enough to get him alone, and growled out, "What the Hell, Ollie?! Are you TRYING to get arrested?"

"What? I know, it was a bad cover, but I've got plans for that event-"

"I'm taking about playing ROBIN HOOD!"

"... Shit, I knew I forgot something."

She stared incredulously for a second, before she face-palmed. "We. We forgot something."

"What?"

She looked up, smirked, and added, "When I came back, but before I showed my face... I may have done something similar... Ask Tommy for details, it was his date with Laurel..." She paused, noted the lack of reaction, "where I was noticed, only, well, not as  _me_... maybe if we work it right, they'll think we both have been working here for months! Though, please tell me you have a proper mask and aren't using something stupid, like... camo paint, and have a voice modulator?"

**Author's Note:**

> non-crossover Challenge for any up for it: Thea and Tommy both joined Ollie and Sara on the boat. Sara and Thea had always been close, Sara and Tommy treated each other like siblings, Tommy and Thea up to that point had always treated each other like siblings. So yeah, The dynamics onboard are that, when Ollie is being Ollie with Sara, Thea and Tommy commiserate over how much of an idiot he is (tommy was never in a committed relationship so never could be a cheat, but was honest about that if he ever did get into one, it would be because he decided to change his lifestyle etc etera and therefore not want to cheat). When Ollie and Tommy are being best buds, Sara gets to be the big sister with Thea, though better than Laurel was with her, so on and so on.  
> addendum: If the Lances knew about her being aboard from before the sinking, it was with the thea and tommy sibling angle in mind, because Sara called and used that excuse (maybe half-truth?) not the 'ollie cheating on laurel with her' part. If they didn't know, then its something they SUSPECT but still,... so they did grieve.  
> Callback: "I couldn't grieve because you and her had cheated, and I couldn't be angry because you were dead" [para]phrase[?]. Not in play here.  
> Ollie and Tommy ended up on Lian Yu, Sara and Thea on the Amazo. After the whole 'blow up the amazo' deal, Ollie as canon (lian yu - hong kong then so on) or 'should have been' (Lian Yu, Amazo, Russia, Hong Kong/ARGUS, Lian Yu), Sara as Canon, but Thea and Tommy on their own path. Tommy ends up back in Starling thinking the other three dead only a couple years before, pretends to be the playboy, laurel gets him out of his PTSD and they end up together properly before the others come back. Thea has run ins with both the league (learns sara is alive) and ARGUS (doesn't about oliver, though maybe scenario as above - mistaken for enemy combatant, he almost shoots her?)... Meets up with SLADE (change: slade didn't slide to the dark side, maybe?), and eventually the pair go to starling and thea reunites, is shocked about tommy (didnt know he'd survived AND had gone home), wary of Malcolm (knows from nyssa? also knows he's her biodad, same source.)  
> Oliver gets home to find Thea already knows his plan and Slade helped... Slade has friends in ARGUS who, bieng ARGUS, knew, and told him etc. Slade then provided cover by hooding-up "pre-return", and Thea as his 'sidekick'.


End file.
